1. Technical Field
The present invention pertains to the field of software implementation. More particularly, the present invention pertains to implementing software so as to provide text messages in a spoken language (as opposed to a computer programming language) that can be selected at run-time.
2. Description of Related Art
In today""s global market, help systems for software must provide help in several different spoken languages. According to the prior art, the spoken language in which help for a software system is provided must often be selected when the software is installed. The prior art also teaches creating one build of software (compiling and linking the elements of the software) providing help in one spoken language, and another build providing help in another spoken language.
What is needed is a way to provide help in using software that allows a user to change the spoken language in which help is provided without reinstalling the software.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a software system that includes text messages intended for viewing by a user. It includes: a software build, responsive to a specified language indicating the spoken language in which text messages are to be provided, and further responsive to a request for text messages on a particular topic, for providing a language-independent identifier corresponding to the requested text message along with the specified language, further responsive to a text message string in the specified language, the text message string corresponding to the identifier and to the specified language, for providing the text message string in the specified language to the user; and a text message system database, responsive to the identifier corresponding to the requested text message and to the specified language, for providing to the software build the text message string in the specified language.
In another aspect of the invention, what is provided is a system and corresponding method for providing a software system that includes text messages intended for viewing by a user. The system includes: a filter, responsive to an unfiltered software source code, for parsing the unfiltered software source code and replacing with corresponding identifiers the text-replacement macros, each having as arguments a text string and an indicator of a corresponding first language, for providing a filtered software source code including the identifiers in place of the text-replacement macros, and further for providing the text message string and the indicator of the corresponding first language; a compiler, responsive to the filtered software source code, for providing a corresponding software build; and a text message system database, responsive to the text message string and to the indicator of the corresponding first language, and further responsive to text message strings, for each identifier, in languages other than the specified language and to indicators of the languages other than the specified language, and still further responsive to a specified language and to a text message string identifier, for providing a text message string in the specified language. In this aspect of the invention, the software build provides the specified language and a text message string identifier to the text message system database in response to a user action.